Tuesday, August 23, 2011

"It’s a new era in fashion - there are no rules. It’s all about the individual and personal style, wearing high-end, low-end, classic labels, and up-and-coming designers all together."
— Alexander McQueen

Obsessed with this quote this morning, but then again I'm obsessed with McQueen in general ever since seeing the "Savage Beauty" exhibit at the Met. Why else would I have waited on this line (or the "McQue" as the Twitterverse was referring to it) for 2 hours?

Monday, August 15, 2011

Inspiration Board? More Like Inspiration Book


Ever since I was a little girl, collecting leftover Sassy and Seventeen magazines from around the house, I have been tearing out "looks" that I love. Over the years I've collected these images and when I came across a leftover art journal I knew that those fashion tears had found their home.

While I've been really good about continuing to tear images that inspire me, I've been a bit lax about organizing them. But recently I've been struggling with my closet and, in an effort to edit down my wardrobe and reveal my style, I have revisited these images.

Watching design shows you see design boards and that's great for one look, but when it comes to a wardrobe I need more room to work -- and so the rebirth of the inspiration book. Out came the images, out went the ones I'm already over and on went the rubber cement to secure the keepers. It's my hope that my style progresses along with the book and, when I'm having a fashion meltdown, it will serve as a place to go for answers.

Originally I wanted this to be a style blog, but I'm so sick of the standard style blogs; put-together women in their 30's being photographed by their significant others in whimsical poses and whatever setting mimics a soft filter on their SLR camera (which they probably received as an out-of-the-box wedding gift from their equally hip friends/family).

Like so many women my age, I don't quite have it all together. I'm getting there, but I'm not going to post phony photos that make others envious of my Brooklyn loft and my impeccably groomed puppy. I'm 29, I live on Long Island, I work in a small office and see the same handful of people every day; so my day-to-day attire simply does not call for high fashion. The problem is I'm also tired of the jeans/tee/hoodie combo, not to mention that I'm terrified of Stacy London and Clinton Kelly ambushing me for the new season of "What Not to Wear," and I think it's high time that I figure out how to adapt my dreams of everyday dressing to fit my reality. Yes, I escape to the city and the Hamptons as frequently as possible and when I do I use that as an excuse to wear the clothes I dream of, but it's still not my reality.

So this isn't an established style blog in the traditional sense, it's a finding-my-style blog. Let the editing down begin.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Aloha - I'm Back!


Summertime is for relaxing and since I can't seem to unwind when I'm near a computer I jumped at the chance to take a real vacation (for the first time in over 2 years) to Hawaii with the old roomies.

Hawaii was everything we'd hoped for and more - beautiful weather, great food and adventures abound. On Oahu we swam with the dolphins at Sea Life Park (where 50 First Dates was filmed), paid homage to fallen heroes at Pearl Harbor, and hiked Diamond Head.

We were supposed to go zip lining in Maui, but the winds were too strong so the more adventurous of us went ATV-ing instead. We did the Road to Hana: a 68 mile drive along highway that included stops at a the black sand beaches, waterfall we could swim in, and winery, attended a Luau at the Hyatt and at the end of our trip we watched the sun rise over Haleakala, aka the East Maui Volcano, and then biked down 23 miles.

On both islands we stayed in Aston properties. While I would definitely recommend the Aston Kaanapali Shores on Maui, which were basically cute and very well maintained condos, I have mixed emotions about the Aston Waikiki Beach hotel.

Allow me to start with the positive: the decor was cute and kitschy and the restaurant/tiki bar was delicious (food and beverage-wise). However, the whole place was like a hotel version of trading spaces. It was like they slapped on new bedding and threw some surfboards up as decor, but didn't bother fixing the bathrooms because the websites don't show those anyway. Our bathroom was almost scary; the shower head was violent (in both pressure and the fact that for some odd reason it sprayed out the side as well as straight down) and the shower curtain rod was so rusted one might get Tetanus just from looking at it (okay so apparently the whole tetanus = rust thing is a myth, but you get my point.

The bathroom didn't ruin our visit by any means, we just kept it quick and made sure not to touch the rod (a safe rule for any group if single girls on vacation *couldn't resist*). Besides, after the Aston Waikiki Beach we were all too excited to see our fancy Florida-meets-Hawaii condo in Maui. Well played Liberty Travel agent.